A cup, mug or pot of tea is typically made by dipping a porous tea bag or tea ball infuser into a hot reservoir of water for several seconds to several minutes in order to release the tea flavor from the tea bag or tea ball infuser into the hot water. The tea is then removed from the hot water. Removing the tea in whatever form can be a messy process as the tea bag or tea ball infuser tends to drip and may even inadvertently sink to the bottom of the cup, mug or tea pot. Moreover, drippings can scald the skin, stain the tablecloth and/or create a pool of tea in a saucer, which might then drip on and stain one's clothing or tablecloth. Other disadvantages with the common method of preparing a cup of tea include the length of time needed to achieve an optimal flavor and the singular and thus potentially wasteful use of tea bags. Similar issues arise when a cup, mug or pot of tea is prepared from tea leaves. To prevent the undesirable mess resulting from disposing of the used tea leaves, multiple dishes need to be typically used in a time consuming process. Moreover, the damp tea bag or tea infuser, once removed from the cup, mug or tea pot, is unattractive and detracts from the tea brewing experience.
The present invention addresses all these negatives. The device used for preparing a large mug or pot of tea from tea leaves or one or more tea bags is a single unit device that provides for functionalities and features to 1) prevent the tea bag or tea leaves contained in a ball from sinking to the bottom so that its retrieval would not require reaching into the hot water reservoir with ones' fingers or a spoon, 2) prevent dripping outside the brewing reservoir when the device is removed, 3) shorten the time to squeeze out the flavor from the tea bag into the water and obviate the need for wrapping the tea bag around a spoon or other secondary utensil to squeeze the tea bag before removing from the cup of tea, 4) enable reusing a tea bag or tea leaves at least once, and 5) obscure from view the unattractive, damp, and used tea bag or tea leaves following brewing.
A number of prior art references that relate to tea bag holding and squeezing devices. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,591, two porous plates are attached to the ends of a tong. U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,948 likewise discloses two dome shaped porous plates connected to a common hinge. References that indicate at least one porous plate include U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,518 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,708,401. U.S. Pat. No. 9,089,232 teaches devices and methods to contain a tea bag or tea leaves in the course of the preparation of a cup of tea. The device holds in place the tea bag or tea leaves while immersed in hot water, provides for pressure onto the tea bag or tea leaves and provides for a plate or bowl to contain any dripping due to the removal of the bag or tea leaves from the cup. The devices utilized in U.S. Pat. No. 9,089,232 are different than that of the present invention, but generally accomplish a similar result.